Photos of the Falcon 9’s Friday afternoon flight

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral on Friday afternoon, sending a Dragon cargo freighter on the way to the International Space Station as the launcher’s first stage booster returned to Earth aboard a floating platform.

The landing is a key advance for SpaceX’s rocket reusability initiative.

The 213-foot-tall rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad at 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT), and the 15-story first stage booster landed approximately 8 minutes, 35 seconds later.

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Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX
Photo credit: SpaceX

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